


Masquerade

by brokenblades13



Series: Crankiplier Song Fics [3]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Ethan doesn't have blue, Ethans shy, Fluffy, M/M, Mark has red hair, Masquerade by Robosoul, Masquerade dance, Mystery, Songfic, They both know how to dance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:55:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25873972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenblades13/pseuds/brokenblades13
Summary: This is Part 3 of 15 of Crankiplier Song Fanfictions. I have been playing around with the idea of using songs for inspiration for small fics. I placed my playlist on random and just went with the first 15 songs.Based off of Masquerade by Robosoul (ft Cid Fox)Ethan is forced to a Masquerade Ball with one of his friends, where he gets to meet a fiery red hair stranger, who steals into his heart without actually ever seeing his face.
Relationships: Mark Fischbach/Ethan Nestor
Series: Crankiplier Song Fics [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873279
Comments: 1
Kudos: 47





	Masquerade

**Author's Note:**

> This songfic is rough, lol. I really like the idea of there being a mystery involved in their meeting. Mark has red hair, cause I thought that it would make him "stand out" in the crowd of people to Mr. Ethan Nestor. So definitely not time accurate. The song is from Rags, the Nickelodeon movie. Yes, I do have all types of music on my phone. 
> 
> I also may add here that Mark is kinda famous, and Ethan knows his name and face, but being at a masquerade, doesn't recognize him. Ethan didn't hear that Markiplier had dyed his hair etiher....(Kinda the point, lol)
> 
> Hope you enjoy it.

Ethan found this stupid, staring at himself in the mirror. Why had he let his friend talk him into going into a masquerade ball? He shook his head, trying to get his hair to stay in a good place with this stupid mask on, but it refused to listen, sticking up in odds and ends.

Ethan had decided to wear a black suit, his black outfit matching with the black and white sequined mask he wore, his nails even painted a shade of black. He grinned at the sight, and for once thought he looked good. He took a quick selfie in the mirror, proud for a moment of how it had turned out, even if he was introverted a little at the idea of parties. 

His friend honked his horn outside the house, and Ethan made his way out. His friend made some sort of snide comment about him going emo for the occasion, but Ethan ignored it, wanting the night to melt away quickly.

When they arrived, somehow his friend almost disappeared immediately, and Ethan was left alone. He took a step into the large, white building that had a huge banner saying “Masquerade Ball” on it. He was met with a loft-like setting, some small tables, and chairs off to the side with a food table and punch for the dancers down below, everything was absolutely gorgeously decorated. There were silver and white tassels hanging from the staircase, white and gold balloons littering the ceiling, white with gold embossed tablecloths, and twinkling lights mixed in with some beautiful lights down below to accent the dancefloor.

He slowly made his way down the stairs, trying to scope out where his friend might have gone, but as per the whole point of this ball, he couldn’t see his face and thus made it harder. He got fully down the steps and a body pushed him slightly into another, and he tumbled into a guy’s arms. 

Ethan quickly tried to regain balance, looking at who had stopped him from hitting the ground. The man stood slightly taller than him, his slightly olive skin accented with a black mask, one that was basic but made his dark brown eyes glow, and Ethan couldn’t ignore the bright, fire engine red hair that spilled over his forehead and slightly into his eyes. The man also wore dark black skinny pants, which almost looked leather and a red button-down shirt that made his hair pop. He definitely stood out amongst everyone else here. 

“You alright?” and just like that, Ethan fell. His voice was like honey and it was easy for him to be attracted to this man.

“Y-Yeah, I mean, Yes, I am. Thank you.”

The man smiled, and walked away, making his way up the stairs. Ethan really hoped that wouldn’t be the last time he saw this man. Ethan made it to the outskirts of the dancefloor and paused by the wall. He said he would come but being a wallflower was easier. He enjoyed people watching, so he would just stand here, and when it got late enough, he would probably end up walking home since he had not seen his friend at all. Ethan watched as the crowd moved to a more upbeat, hyper song, something with heavy bass, and he just shook his head as he noticed the typical behavior as if they were in a bar. 

Until he spotted red hair. 

Ethan was glad the man hadn’t left, meaning he probably just went up to get something to drink. Ethan smiled softly, and just stared, trying not to make it too obvious that he was. He wished though he was paying more attention to what was happening, because suddenly, the music shifted, and he was being grabbed by an overly eager female, pulling him onto the dancefloor. 

Ethan noticed three things really quickly. This girl was drunk, everyone was out on the floor and all paired up, and the person beside him dancing with another girl, who looked to be fawning over him, was none other than the red-haired man. 

The beat started, and Ethan stepped in line with everyone else, turning and spinning the girl to the right rhythm, hoping not to embarrass himself. He hadn’t done much learning when it comes to dancing types, but he could manage at most events that required anything ballroom based. 

He started slightly when he heard the MC state, loudly over the speakers “Alright, you all look a little too comfortable! Let’s switch this up. Look to your left, switch out partners! Let’s go!”

The girl left Ethan’s arms, and he sighed, thinking he was able to leave, seeing some other people do the same, but suddenly, a hand caught him and pulled him back against a redshirt. Ethan looked up and saw the man smiling down at him that he had been staring at all night. 

(Who are you?  
What is your name?  
Is this a two-faced game?  
It's tragic 'cuz after tonight  
My heart will never be the same)

Ethan’s heart was racing as the red-haired man took the lead, pulling him up against him and falling back into the same turning and twirling as before. 

“Thought you could leave me?” The taller man stated, his voice breathy as he danced, a small smirk playing over his lips. 

Ethan pulled himself up from a slight dip, his voice shook when he talked next. “Kind of. I was being a wallflower before.”

The man laughed softly, turning Ethan again, the beat guiding their steps beautifully. “Yeah and staring at me from across the room.”

(And I 'am hypnotized yeah  
I'm drawn to your eyes  
I just wanna see your face  
Welcome to my Masquerade)

Ethan’s eyes widened and realized that he probably was making it obvious. The red-haired man pulled him up against his body, and Ethan was speechless for a moment, realizing it wasn’t something he had done yet. 

“Almost as if you wanted to ask my name in this mix….”

Ethan swallowed the lump in his throat that had formed, and nodded once, his eyes staring into the brown ones that were joking with him. 

“Yes, I have been contemplating it all night. But…. Yeah, that’s the whole mystery of the night, isn’t it? To dance with someone, you don’t know the name of and go home, with only just memories?”

The red-haired man laughed as the song ended, slowly pulling apart from Ethan. Ethan missed the contact almost immediately, and just stayed staring at him for a moment. 

“Do you really want this to be a memory?”

Ethan’s breath caught as he shook his head, his eyes dropping to the floor at the question. “No, but it would make things easier. I don’t know how to do any of this kind of stuff…ya know?”

The red-haired man grinned and pulled his chin up to look up at him, as he moved his other hand up to slowly undo the mask from behind his head. Ethan felt his breath catch as the mask dropped and he immediately recognized the face. 

“Markiplier? I have been dancing with the Markiplier?” Ethan sounded small, and he quickly pulled from Mark’s hands.

Mark, who now was very confused, looked at him through a half glare. “Is there something wrong with that?”

Ethan quickly raised his hands in defense, shaking his head. “No, no. Just surprising. Um, I gotta go.” 

Then he bolted, heading up the stairs faster than the older man was able to catch up to him. Ethan didn’t stop until he was outside, thought about which way he needed to go to head home, and booked it in that direction. He could hear Mark yelling from behind him, but his voice got smaller and smaller as he ran, and he knew that he was home free when he turned a corner. He slipped the mask off his face, pocketing it, and walking the rest of the way home.   
When he got home, he changed into a tee-shirt and PJ bottoms, took out his contacts, and put on his glasses, slinking into bed with regret filling his heart as he did so. Maybe he should have stayed to tell Mark who he was. Maybe he should have said at least his name. He checked his phone, his friend obviously not noticing that he had even left the ball due to not having a single notification from him. Ethan sighed, pulling up YouTube and typing in slowly Mark’s user.

One of the most recent videos was of him dying his hair red, and Ethan clicked on it to watch, trying to remember the night now that he had known who the red-haired man was. Ethan was, of course, still attracted to him, but Mark had never once said that he was interested in males, in any of his videos that Ethan had seen in the past, so was this a new development that he had taken a slight interest in Ethan, or was he hiding it from his fan base?

Ethan slowly fell asleep to Mark’s voice in his headphones, remembering the feel of Mark’s body up against his.   
When he woke up in the morning, his phone was still playing Mark’s videos and he sighed, exiting the video that was on. He rubbed the tiredness from his eyes, and then realized he had fallen asleep with his glasses on. He sighed, and then noticed a new video was uploaded from Mark, a picture of him in the red button-down shirt he was wearing last night as the thumbnail, a caption underneath of “If You’re Watching This.”

Ethan carefully clicked the video and settled back against the wall behind his bed.

“Listen, you know who you are. You ran away before we had a chance to talk about anything, for me to get your name, or even to know what you looked like. I felt a connection with you that no one was able to do the entire night, and I actually revealed who I was to you. I apologize for scaring you.” 

Ethan sighed, pausing the video to mentally curse himself at the fact that he hadn’t scared him. He was so nervous about who actually was under the mask, and to find out that it was a celebrity made him panic. Ethan didn’t believe himself to ever have a chance with him. 

Ethan pressed play again, staring at the screen with slightly teary eyes.

“I also wanted you to know that I followed you, almost to where you turned the corner, and I couldn’t catch up. You were very fast, and I barely had time to fully react to everything before you were bolting from me. I also found your mask.”

Mark held it up in the video and Ethan’s heart stopped, and he paused the video to get up. He grabbed his jacket he had been wearing, fishing in the pockets to come up empty-handed. Maybe it had fallen out when he started his way home. 

He sat back down, shaking his head as he pulled his phone to him, pressing play and taking out the headphones. 

“I want to know who you are, mystery dancer. So, for ten minutes, I will open up my DMs on my social media accounts. I know this means my phone will probably crash, but I am looking for something specific….”

Ethan’s heart raced as Mark’s eyes seemed to bore into him. 

“What song did we dance to? Where were we? Something I said to you to specifically…. And a photo if you have it.”

Ethan’s heart threatened to explode, listening further for the time the DMs would be opened. He contemplated whether he would do it for the next thirty minutes while waiting for the time it opened.

He pulled up twitter, went to Mark’s handle, and waited for the time, feeling sick to his stomach. The time came, and he noticed the DM button popped up as promised but Ethan didn’t press it. What would he even say after all of this? “I’m sorry for bailing? I didn’t know you were gay? Did he even like me like that???”

He sighed, pressing the symbol and opening it up. He began to type.

“Hi, Mark. I am Ethan Nestor. I don’t know if you will even get it in this mess, but here it is… We were at the Masquerade Ball on 7th street, we danced to the song Masquerade and we had switched partners. I almost left but you grabbed me. Something you said to me was… “Do you really want this to be a memory?” and I didn’t know what to do when I left, I’m sorry. Oh, and here’s the picture you asked for, so you know I’m not just a crazed stalker fan.”

Then, he attached the selfie he had taken, and his finger hovered over the send button, staring at the time. He watched the time tick on, close to the DMs closing and almost just closing the twitter app all together… but something told him he needed to take this opportunity, and he pressed the send button a minute before the DMs closed back up.  
Ethan put his phone down on the bed, and immediately started to curse, leaving it on the bed as he started pacing.   
He lost track of time, continuing to pace, take Spencer out for a quick walk around the block, and inevitably going back to pacing. His screen on his phone flashed and he stared at it for a moment before picking it up and noticing it was a twitter DM. 

He quickly opened it and noticed that it wasn’t Markiplier’s main handle and glared at it for a moment. He opened it to the full message and began to read.

“Hi Ethan, I had the realization that I couldn’t reply back to the right DM without opening my DM’s back up and that wasn’t going to happen. My phone crashed four times in those ten minutes. So you know it is me, and not some other account pretending to be me… “Thought you could leave me?” I knew I would find you.”

Ethan smiled and quickly texted back. “Kind of. I was being a wallflower before. But I kind of want to know who you really are.”

He smiled and set his phone back down. He would have to thank his friend for dragging him along and then ditching him.


End file.
